Page 44 of Baby Me

“I didn’t want to intrude on your moment with Star.”

“That’s why you’re perfect. You know that, right? You put everyone else before yourself.” It felt like he was comparing me to other people, and maybe he was. Maybe he was comparing me to June or to his dead wife. Either way, I was just happy to come out on the positive end of things.

“Has there been any word about June?”

“No,” He groaned as he got up off the little cot they gave us to use. “Speaking of, I need to go check in with everyone at the clubhouse and see what’s going on. I’m going to have someone here with you before I leave though.” He added when he noticed my panicked expression.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t ever thank me for taking care of you and my daughter. I’m just realizing I didn’t do a good enough job of protecting Kim when she was mine. You better believe I learned that lesson the hard way and won’t allow history to repeat itself. You’re mine now, Vina. That little girl right there, she’s mine, too. We’re a family and we’ll make that official as soon as we can. While you sit with our daughter, I’m going to go make sure we track down the one person who is a threat to the two of you. I might not be able to do shit about the cancer, but I can try to do something about the dead woman walking.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell Tripp I loved him. Instead, I swallowed that down and hugged him tightly. “Please, be safe. I worry about you too. She’s been fixated on the females in your family because she thought they were weaker or easier to get to, but what happens when she turns that anger and bitterness on you?”

“How about I keep someone glued to my side, even though I’m not the least bit worried about myself. Will that make you feel better?”

“It really will. We need you to be safe. She needs you,” I corrected.

“Well, that’s good because I need both of you in my life to be happy. I fucked it up last time, and we will talk about that later when this other shit isn’t hanging over our heads. But sweetheart, believe me when I say, it’s good that Star gave her blessing, but you and me, that was going to happen no matter what. Having her blessing is icing on the cake because it means one more person in our family who won’t let you down.”

I was speechless. He remembered what I’d said that first time we were together about wanting a family who I could be there for and who would be there for me.

“Trench should be here in a minute,” Tripp said as he glanced down at the text he’d just received on his phone. His lips turned up in a smile as he looked back up at me. “Mitzi and Dee are coming with him to keep you company.”

“I haven’t seen Dee since I was pregnant and Mitzi since before I left.” The excitement over reacquainting myself with old friends meant that I let a little something slip that I probably shouldn’t have.

“You saw Dee after you left the clubhouse?” Tripp asked.

I nodded in response. “Don’t be mad at her. We ran into one another when she was out shopping and there was nothing to tell her about who the father was, so…”

“Don’t worry, she’s not in trouble,” Tripp assured me.

“Good because withholding my pregnancy from the club was totally on me.”

“Sweetheart, we all know why you did it and no one blames you. It sucks that the reason we found out was because of Coral’s illness, but I’m fucking happier than hell it finally came out. I wouldn’t want to miss a minute more of her life or the one I plan on spending with you by my side.”

“Tripp,” I whispered. He leaned in and placed a kiss on the tip of my nose just as the door opened and Mitzi, Dee, and Trench came bounding inside the room.

“Keep it down. Baby girl is asleep, and she needs all the rest she can get right now,” Tripp informed them before they could get too boisterous in their hellos. Once he was satisfied that they all took him seriously, he took off and left me to catch up with old friends.

Chapter 21

Tripp

One more fucking week and no sign of the cunt whose agenda was to harm my family. Scout pulled some strings and had her investigator friend, the same one who helped find out all the shit about Kip’s soon-to-be ex-wife, look into June.

“Dad!” Star called out as the door to the hospital room opened. I turned and put my finger up to my lips before she woke my girls. “Sorry,” she whispered. “Rough night?”

“They started baby girl’s new meds last night and they didn’t agree with her,” I admitted quietly. It was fucking awful to watch her get so sick and know that there was nothing anyone could do. The only thing that made Coral feel even a little bit better was to be in her mother’s arms. She didn’t want a damn thing to do with me, and I guess I couldn’t blame her. I’d been here a lot, but my daughter slept most of her days away. That in itself was worrisome because it felt like she was sleeping more, not less. I wasn’t sure how I would handle it if she couldn’t survive this fight, but there was no doubt in my mind that it would absolutely destroy my woman.

“You here by yourself?” I asked Star, wondering what she was doing here with no one following her in the room.

She shook her head. “Bagger is here, too. He went to talk to the nurses. We thought that maybe if he put his pretty face to good use and flirted a bit with the nurses they would remember seeing a strange woman around who didn’t belong.”

I laughed quietly and pulled my oldest daughter in for a hug. “You cool with that tactic?”

She shrugged and smiled up at me. “It’s for a good cause. Besides, I’m the one he’s going home with, so no harm for him to be extra friendly and hopefully get us some useful information. This bitch stays underground much longer, and I’ll set the whole town on fire to flush her out.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

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